Some endoscope sheaths include one or more features for cleaning a distal viewing end of an endoscope. To function properly, these features may require that a distal end the endoscope sheath be axially aligned with the distal viewing end of the endoscope. In this regard, if an endoscope sheath is too short, for example, the distal end of the endoscope sheath may not reach the distal viewing end of the endoscope, and may be prevented from properly cleaning the endoscope. If an endoscope sheath is too long, however, the distal end of the endoscope sheath may interfere with the distal viewing end of the endoscope and may compromise visual access into an internal location of a patient. A long endoscope sheath may also be prevented from properly cleaning the distal viewing end of the endoscope. Some examples of endoscope sheaths can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,811,228, 5,554,112 and 5,797,836 and in U.S. Pat. Pubs. 2013/0205936 and 2002/0120180, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.
Because endoscopes may be provided in various lengths for accommodating various medical procedures and/or because of length tolerance variations from the manufacturing processes of endoscopes and endoscope sheaths, large inventories of endoscope sheaths having various lengths may be required to ensure proper axial alignment with the distal viewing end of an endoscope. Accordingly, it may be desirable to have an endoscope sheath that can engage an endoscope and then be adjusted to axially align the distal end of the endoscope sheath with the distal viewing end of the endoscope. It may also be desirable to provide a method for axially aligning an endoscope sheath with an endoscope to accommodate endoscope sheaths and endoscopes of varying lengths.